Through a Slave's Eyes
by JDH3
Summary: Vader's musings as he awaits an audience with the Emperor a few months before ANH. You'll have to read to find out who he muses about.


**DISCLAIMER**: I own NOTHING! It all belongs to George Lucas, and I'm getting no money for it; so don't sue.   
  
Title: Through a Slave's Eyes   
Characters: Darth Vader, and you'll have to read to find out lol!   
Type: Canon vignette   
Era: OT- several months prior to ANH   
Genre: Vader musings- need I say more?   
Author: JD.   
Feedback: Want it, need it, crave it... Yes, I am a feedback junkie!  
  
**Through a Slave's Eyes**  
  
Vader stood quietly outside the Emperor's throne room; his mechanical breathing the room's only sound. He had come to meet with his master about the designs for the Emperor's new as yet unnamed battle station. Several key Imperials were already inside, but Vader had been instructed to wait outside for the time being. The Dark Lord knew why of course; it was control- always control. The Emperor would see him on _his_ terms, and Vader would simply have to accept it. With nothing to do but wait, Vader's gaze settled on the room's only other occupant.   
  
A slave; that's what he was. It was the only explanation for why any non-human would be so close to the Emperor. Vader appraised the enslaved being carefully from behind his mask. The creature played the role of dutiful servant to perfection. His eyes remained downcast at all times; just as a slave's should be. And he spoke in hushed, and respectful tones when his master contacted him via comlink. Everything about the creature screamed obedient servant with a broken spirit. But Vader knew better; it was a ruse, and a clever one.   
  
Vader himself had played the servant's game back when he was still an innocent child. For many years he had worn the same mask of subservience- all the while plotting his escape. He could easily discern the difference between the look of mock fear and that of genuine worry. And this creature showed no real fear; it was all a well crafted act. Vader couldn't help but admire the poor being's knack for misdirection. He was a cunning one; there was no doubt of that.   
  
His curiosity getting the better of him, Vader used the Force to reach into the slave's mind. The shields he encountered were impressive for someone without the Force, but he breached them none-the-less. What Vader found inside the slave's mind would have shocked the creature's owner, but the Dark Lord was not surprised. The slave had, and continued to, take notice of absolutely everything around him. He noted the ways the Imperials addressed one another, and the layout of the buildings and ships he had visited- everything. It was not lost on Vader the special care the slave took to memorize every detail he could concerning the tactics of the Imperial navy.   
  
This was no defeated slave; no simple servant, Vader mused. This one was a most impressive specimen- a being of rare intellect. The Dark Lord's attention was drawn away from the slave by the sound of the door to the throne room being opened. It was time for his audience with the Emperor, and he was more than ready. As he moved to enter the throne room, the slave's master emerged with more orders for his servant. Vader caught the tail end of the conversation, and what he heard made him smirk behind his mask. Like all slave owners before him, the creature's master was blind to his slave's true potential. As he walked away, Vader could sense that someday this poor being would make those who had enslaved him pay the price for their lack of vision.   
  
"Is something on your mind, Lord Vader?" Grand Moff Tarkin questioned as he fell into step with the Dark Lord.   
  
"Nothing of importance, Tarkin," Vader replied evenly as they approached the Emperor's throne.   
  
"You observed my slave out there; pathetic creature, isn't he?"   
  
"What is his name?"   
  
"I believe its people call it Ackbar, Vader."   
  
Vader stored the name in his mind, and fell silent. As he and Tarkin took their seats at the room's large conference table, Vader wondered just how dearly the Empire would pay for Tarkin's dismissal of Ackbar. A brief sense of dread came upon the Dark Lord as he reflected on what he had seen inside the Mon Calamari's mind. This slave, like Anakin Skywalker before him, would make those who had underestimated him live to regret having done so. Knowing that no "true" Imperial would ever take concerns about a non-human seriously, Vader pushed his thoughts aside and settled down to discuss his master's new battle station.


End file.
